george w



(No Model.)

G. W. SKANKS.

CLOTHES HOLDER. V No. 482,531. Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

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7w: ATTbRNEY.

' UNITE-D. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE \V. SKANKS, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE I). EMERY, OF SAME PLACE.

CLOTH ES-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,531, dated September 13, 1892. Application filed May 25,1892. Serial No. 484,264. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. SKANKS, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olothes-I-Iolders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in clothes-holders, serving as temporary clamps for suspending the clothes in drying, the peculiarities of which will be hereinafter particularly described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like reference-letters indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 represents a side view of my device; Fig. 2, an end view of the same; Fig. 3, a plan view, and Fig. 4 a detail of the blank in its flat form before bending.

My device is adapted to be secured to any suitable support or framework to allow the use of the device as a temporary clamp for suspending clothes in drying, and is particularly adapted for use in laundries, where a large number of articles are to be quickly arranged in a spread-out condition and removed from the suspending device after drying. For this purpose the clothes-holding device may be secured to the wall, to the ceiling, or any suitable framework easily accessible to the person hanging the clothes to attach them and remove them therefrom.

The letter A designates the body part of a blank of resilient metal, provided with ears a, perforated to receive supporting-screws. On opposite ends or portions of the body part are located extensions or arms B, bent down, as shown in Fig. 1, and having a slot or separation at O, whereby are formed bifurcated ends D, provided with perforations E, or otherwise adapted to receive the axle of wheels F, opposing each other, as shown in Fig. l. The spring of the metal and the construction of the arms near the body allow of the wheels receding from each other and exerting a clipping efiect on the interposed material inserted between them. For instance, if a garment be thrust up between the wheels, as at G, the

wheels and supporting-arms will spring outward, as indicated by dotted lines, and allow the passage of the garment. The resiliency of the metal will exert a compressive action on the garment and support it. The bifurcated ends of the arms are stiffened by the quarter-twist given to the ends, and the spring effect is produced by the portion of the arm just below the bend from the body part. The eyes that support the wheel axle or pin are perforated or otherwise formed in the ends of the bifurcated arms. The wheels are shown corrugated. They may, however, be smooth, or substantially so, if so desired, and may be of any suitable material, such as wood, glass, or rubber. The corrugations, however, assist in the insertion of the garment between the wheels and in gripping the same.

In Fig. 4 is shown the fiat,unbent, and untwisted blank. The metal of which it is struck out may be of more or less resiliency, but sufficient to exert the compressive yielding action upon the interposed garment or web of material. As shown in Fig. 4, the eyes are formed by perforations in the ends of the arms; also, the ears or lugs of the body portion are perforated for the supporting-screws. The blank is bent on the dotted lines 00 :r and twisted to the preferred form shown in the figures. By this construction and arrangement a simple, efficient, and easilyunanufactured article is produced. One of the essentials of manufacture is that the device be cheaply produced. The above-described construction readily secures this desired end, as well as others apparent to the user.

I am aware that a clothes-pin has been constructed consisting of a ring of coiled wire having arms extending downward and back to the ring to carry opposing rollers. This device is costly to manufacture and complicated in structure.

I am also aware of a clothes-pin cast with two arms, one carrying a pressure plate and the other a serrated piece falling over against the plate to press against the garment interposed. This is also expensive to manufacture. My device, however, with its simple spring-blank, with bifurcated ends, stamped out of sheet metal and adapted to support opposing rollers with a yielding action and be attached to a suitable support, differs materially from either of the above devices. The metal forming the blank may be of inconsiderable thickness, since in the form illustrated the twisted ends of the arms give st-iifness to the lower portions and the spring is secured by the broad undivided portion of the arm next to the body.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an improved article of manufacture, the herein-described improved clothes-holder, the same consisting of a resilient blank struck out of a single piece of metal, having a body portion with bifurcated or slot-ted arms and bent down opposite each other and provided with eyes at their lower ends, and wheels mounted in said eyes and opposing each other with a yielding action.

2. As an improved-article of manufacture, the herein-described improved clothes-holder, consisting of a resilient blank struck out of sheet metal and perforated for screw attachment, provided with opposing arms bent down GEORGE W. SKANKS. \Vitnesses:

GEo. L. OADE,

WM. A. CRozIER. 

